


Patrick Melrose Metas

by astronbookfilms (galaxyture)



Category: Patrick Melrose (TV)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-20 21:12:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14902110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyture/pseuds/astronbookfilms
Summary: This work is a collection of metas about the miniseries "Patrick Melrose". The miniseries Patrick Melrose deals with mature and upsetting topics including addiction and child abuse. These topics are referenced briefly in the metas, but do not go into detail. These metas are probably only interesting to those who saw the miniseries which features these topics in far greater detail.





	1. Chapter 1

These metas focus on the miniseries "Patrick Melrose" based on the novels by Edward St. Aybun. The essays include spoilers for the whole miniseries.  



	2. Patrick Melrose: The Character and an Overview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter includes a discussion about the main character, Patrick Melrose, and general comments about the miniseries.

I was excited about Patrick Melrose, but I was not sure I was going to enjoy it. Stories that deal with abuse are always risky because it is easier to get them wrong than do them justice. Patrick Melrose showed abuse and its consequences in a painful and realistic way. Parts of the miniseries are difficult to watch and I understand why some people would prefer to avoid it or started watching it and turned it off. The miniseries also relies heavily on a style of humour that is particularly British and may be off-putting for those who are not familiar with it.

Patrick Melrose has given Cumberbatch a million opportunities to fail. He avoided all the pitfalls and instead made a brilliant Patrick Melrose. Patrick Melrose really is a dream role for an actor who wants to strength their acting muscles. All the actors did exceptional job. This post is mainly about the character Patrick Melrose, but also covers some other characters in the miniseries.

One of the most striking things about Patrick Melrose is that despite the horrific abuse he has suffered he still has and at times is willing to show kindness and compassion. The abuse has hardened him in some ways and resulted in him developing some unhealthy coping mechanisms, but for the first three episodes the only person he usually hurts is himself. The times when he hurts other people in these episodes is it generally understandable such as his reaction when he is shown the wrong corpse. Even a mentally healthy person might swear at that point.

We see his kindness toward Belinda and I loved his snark about Princess Margaret. We see that it upsets him when people are cruel to each other. We see his disapproval at Sonny’s affair. That disapproval becomes ironic later when he has an affair with Julia. As furious as he is at his mother for not protecting him, he still tries to show love towards her. It is clear that watching her suffering gives him no pleasure and that it pains him to help her die even knowing it is her wish.

Patrick’s problem isn’t that he is too hard and detached. It is that he is too sensitive. As a child he had no choice, but to be largely surrounded by people who are hard and seemingly lacking in compassion. As an adult he still finds himself attracted to it probably because it is familiar.  
His attraction to Julia (Jessica Raine) fits is partly based on an attraction towards a familiar type of person. Whereas he felt sorry for Bridget, Julia only sees a gossip opportunity in Bridget’s misfortune. In “Mother’s Milk” it is clear that although Patrick’s drinking is interfering with his ability to be a good husband and father, he wants to be one. Julia is quite comfortable with her view that children are parasites. In “At Last” we overtly learn that Julia is generally sad, but it was obvious throughout the miniseries. Julia is an enabler because she wants company in her vices. In “Bad News” she laughs off the idea that he could get clean. She encourages his worst coping mechanisms because it means he is someone to join her as she indulges in them. Sometimes you need to cut a toxic person out of your life and Patrick does that in “At Last”.  
The character of Julia is interesting and necessary for the story. Looking at it from an acting perspective I can see how Cumberbatch and Raine might have enjoyed their scenes together. 

It isn’t a coincidence that the woman he nearly hooks up with the woman in his support group looks a bit like Julia. She is a nightmare version of Julia with absolutely no self-awareness. There is hope for Julia. I am not sure that there is any for her.

There is in some ways a parallel between Patrick and Bridget (Holliday Grainger) in trying to escape the high society that is destroying them. Bridget chose naively to enter it whereas Patrick was born into it, but it was not a coincidence that the night Patrick chose to start choosing hope was the night Bridget left Sonny. 

Of all the relationships (family, friends, romantic/sexual), the healthiest throughout the series is between Patrick and Johnny (Prasanna Puwanarajah). Cumberbatch, Puwanarajah, and Berger did an incredible job of showing the friendship and trust between Patrick and Johnny. Obviously, the writing is important, but it is the little touches (literally and figuratively) that really strike me on rewatch. Johnny shows a largely healthy way to be a friend to an addict who has suffered abuse. (I will cover their friendship in a separate post.)  
David Melrose (Hugo Weaving) is a damaged man, but it is hard to feel any compassion for him. As Patrick finally says nobody should do that to anyone.

With Eleanor Melrose (Jennifer Jason Leigh) it is more complicated. The reality is she knew at some level what her husband was doing to her son and she did not protect her son. The fact she was also abused does not excuse her. In real life and in fiction women are abused and still to find ways to protect their children. However, she was also a victim and it is easier to feel sorry for her. We saw what happened when Bridget tried to leave the first time. As Eleanor said to her it isn’t that easy.

It is hard for me to find a character that could possibly be worse than David Melrose, but Nicholas Pratt (Pip Torrens) who has the perfect last name nearly managed it. He made my skin crawl. We don’t know if he physically abused anyone, but he certainly took pleasure in seeing children and women being abused. I wanted to take a shower after hearing his comments to Patrick about his sons in front of his sons. 

Perhaps Patrick’s best display of his good heart was not in regards to his parents, but in replacing Johnny and providing a physical and emotional anchor for Nicholas as he is possibly dying. Only a little while earlier Nicholas was reveling in the abuse Patrick had endured as a child and taunting him about what his father would have done to his sons. Yet Patrick still chooses to be there for Nicholas. The Patrick we saw in “Bad News” or “Mother’s Milk” could not have done it. He has come a long way.

I will be writing a separate post about Patrick and Mary (Anna Madeley). I loved Mary. I loved that she was supportive while still standing up for herself and their sons. Being in a relationship with a man who has been abused and has problems with addictions is difficult and it is particularly difficult not to sacrifice too much to try to "save him". Unfortunately, one of the few missteps involved her and her relationship with Patrick. I will discuss her and her relationship with Patrick in a separate post.


	3. Patrick and Mary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter examines the relationship between Patrick and Mary Melrose.

Stories about a man with “issues” and a woman loving him until he changes always make me uneasy. One person cannot save another person from addiction and destruction behavior without the person engaging in the behavior wanting to change. In real life there are way to many stories of women trying to “save” a man with tragic consequences.

In “Some Hope” Patrick and Mary were well-written. They have similar senses of humour. They having similar attitudes. They have compassion. I loved the touch that when Patrick gets up to go to Belinda we see that Mary was also starting to get up. Patrick got through the night without drugs or alcohol and he had chosen to remain friends with Johnny rather than “stealing” Julia back. It is clear from their exchange about breakfast the next morning that Patrick is really going to make an effort.

Adapting a novel to a one hour episode usually means cutting out material. Patrick’s and Mary’s relationship in “Mother’s Milk” was the miniseries biggest misfire. “Mother’s Milk” had a lot of material to cover and the problem is understandable from a filmmaking perspective, but it meant that the audience was asked to either rely on the novel (and I think an adaptation should stand on its own) or fill in major gaps with their imagination. 

In “Some Hope” Patrick and Mary are attracted to each other and get along, but are not even officially together. In “Mother’s Milk” they are married with two kids, but their relationship is a mess because of Patrick’s drinking problem brought on by his fears of making his parents’ mistakes and then his mother signing away the house to a cult. It was not only jarring, but without having seen them as a happy and functional couple it had less impact. We only saw the briefest hints of them as a healthy couple. Taken at face value the audience is left wonder why Mary put up with him for so long. 

She gives him chances. She knows about him and Julia and doesn’t immediately leave him. 

Mary believes in him, supports him, gently (and when he doesn’t listen less gently) encourages him to be a better person. Equally important and in contrast to Eleanor she stands up for herself and her children. She sets limits. She tells him she is starting to imagine life without him. She takes active steps to protect their sons. 

In “At Last” Julia says that Mary was more a mother to Patrick than his own mother. I disagree. Her behavior towards her sons is how Patrick wishes Eleanor had behaved towards him. (The situations are not identical. Patrick doesn’t rape Mary and their sons and despite being troubled he lacks his father’s cruelty.) Mary’s behavior towards Patrick is one of a supportive partner. She believes that Patrick can overcome his past and be a better person, but when he appears unable to change she demands that he leave. If he wants to drink himself to death he can do so in his own flat.

It is clearly extremely painful for her to watch him destroy himself, but she is a strong enough woman not to be willing to go down with him and to protect their sons. It has been obvious throughout the miniseries, but in “At Last” he verbalizes that his anger at his mother is for not protecting him and insists that although he has been a terrible husband and father, he would protect their sons. Sadly, he has not protected them for seeing him fall apart.

In “At Last” Mary has planned the funeral and despite her frustration with him keeps an eye on him. It is here that we finally see Patrick show and verbalize how much he appreciates her. During the first three episodes it was his friend Johnny that was keeping him afloat. In “At Last” it is mostly Mary with Johnny still being a supportive friend. 

There are some nice small touches with Mary. I liked that when Patrick went to greet Julia the audience could see Julia walking away. Them having to put their heads down to try to hide the fact that they are laugh during Annette’s speech called to mind their laugh about the painting in “Mother’s Milk” and their conversations in “Some Hope”. I loved the shot of her showing her frustration after Patrick’s breakdown before going outside to comfort him.   
It was also nice to see her finally tell her mother what she should have said years ago.

“At Last” is an episode of hope. There is a behind-the-scenes feature titled “We Are All Patrick Melrose” referring to that feeling of hope. Not everyone’s happy ending involves being married with kids, but Patrick’s is being a barrister, a husband, and a father. He has found a woman who understands him, shares his sense of humour, encourages him to be a better man, believes in him, stands up for herself, and is a good mother. He has done enough work on himself to be in a position to be good husband and father. He may always struggle with not falling back into his unhealthy coping methods, but he has come far enough for their relationship to be more equal. Instead of it always being her supporting him in the future it might sometimes be him supporting her.

Both Patrick and Mary went through a lot to get there, but at last they are ready to really face the future together.


	4. Patrick and Johnny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter examines the friendship between Patrick and Johnny.

Being friends with an addict who was abused is difficult. Support can easily turn into enabling and trying to steer a friend onto a better path can easily result in pushing them away. To make things worse Johnny did not have his own life together either in “Bad News”.  
For the first three episodes it was Johnny’s friendship that was a life-line for Patrick. He does not appear in “Mother’s Milk” and I missed his presence. I also wondered if Patrick might have held it together better if Johnny had been around. (Obviously, since it takes place in southern France on a family holiday it would make no sense for him to have been around.)

Although he is only a major character in “Some Hope”, his presence (or in the case of “Mother’s Milk” lack of presence) is felt throughout the series. In “Bad News” we see him only briefly and, ironically, his most important scene is one we don’t see him in. It is the scene at the airport when Patrick calls him and breaks down.

We barely see either him or the adult Patrick in “Never Mind”, but it is clear that Patrick would be completely lost without Johnny. 

His major episode is “Some Hope”. Patrick has made the decision to get clean, but the party is one of the worst places he could possibly be as he tries to reclaim his life. Without Johnny Patrick would never have gotten through that night without alcohol or drugs.

We see the close friendship and understanding between the two men. Johnny knows not to rise to the bait when Patrick makes fun of his “cult”. Patrick is comfortable calling Johnny and telling him to get there as soon as possible. As they walk to the party he lets Johnny know he may need him. When Patrick admits that he needs a drink, Johnny knows exactly how to respond. When Julia comes up to them Patrick, despite being attracted to her, tries to leave and continue his conversation with Johnny before noticing that Johnny has gone off with Julia’s husband.   
Of course, we see the trust between them most clearly when Patrick tells Johnny about his father abusing him. When someone tells you something shocking it can be easy to react the wrong way as you are processing the shock, but Johnny has the right response. He quietly supports Patrick and lets Patrick say what he wants to say and only gently prompts him. He accepts Patrick’s attempt at humour at the ridiculousness of the escape idea as Patrick’s coping mechanism.

One of the most noteworthy things is the physical comfort between them. People who were abused as children often avoid touch. Sometimes they are comfortable initiating the touch, but it takes a lot of trust to allow someone else to touch them. Clearly Patrick is comfortable touching women when making out or having sex- something some people who have been abused have trouble with-, but that is different than emotionally supportive touching. Patrick is comfortable with Johnny’s supportive touch both before and after him revealing the abuse. Johnny also knows Patrick well enough to know that Patrick will be ok with the supportive touch even after knowing Patrick was abused.

I did find it ironic that Johnny suggested that Patrick should try falling in love with the implication of settling down considering Johnny is having an affair with Julia. In “At Last” he again tries to encourage him get Helen’s phone number. A part of me was mentally yelling back at him, “How about you suggest he go to the woman who has organized this whole thing and supported you all day”. (Patrick and Mary having separated, but Patrick continues to wear his wedding ring and it is clear they still love each other.)   
In “At Last” Johnny is as always the supportive friend. This time his advise and support comes with professional backup. 

He has every reason to hate Nicholas. He knows how badly Nicholas treated both Patrick and Nicholas’ own daughter. He knows Nicholas hates him. Yet when Nicholas collapses he only waits a moment before going to help him. There is also a moment of hesitation when Patrick starts to replace him as if he wants to also be sure of Patrick. As soon as he moves back he moves next to Robert and stands there in a protective stance. It is an upsetting thing for a kid to see and it is clear that he will be there for Robert if he needs him. 

When Patrick is embarrassed by his breakdown, Johnny points out that professionally it is a breakthrough. In “At Last” Patrick also has Mary, but it is clear that although they probably don’t see as other as often as they once did Patrick and Johnny have remained close supportive friends. The story is about Patrick Melrose getting his life together. If you want to imagine Patrick’s life after the story ends it is probable that in the future his friendship with Johnny- like his relationship with Mary- will be more equal with him supporting Johnny as much as Johnny has supported him.


End file.
